Pac-Attack (Super Nintendo)

While Pac-Man was originally famous for maze games starting in 1980 (eat the dots, flee the ghosts), there have been numerous Pac-Man games over the years in a variety of other genres. Pac-Attack, released in 1993 is one such game and fits into the puzzle game genre. Pac-Attack has the distinction of being the first Pac-Man game released exclusively for home systems.

Pac-Attack was initially released for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis late in 1993. In 1994 versions were released for the Game Boy and Game Gear. In 1995, a version for the Philips CD-i. Both the Sega Genesis and Super NES versions have been re-released as unlockable content in other games and/or as part of various compilations over the years. While this was technically the first Pac-Man game released exclusively on home systems, it was based on another game called Cosmo Gang the Puzzle which was released in arcades.

This game is similar to games like Tetris and Columns in that you must clear blocks that fall from the top of the screen. The unique twist with Pac-Attack is that sometimes ghosts will fall instead of blocks. To clear ghosts you must guide special Pac-Man pieces to fall on them.

If you like puzzle games, then you will probably enjoy this one. However, it was criticized as having less depth and less replayability than some other similar puzzle games at the time. Still, reviews were more positive than negative and it's worth giving a try.

If you do want to give this one a try, you can of course track down an original or use emulation. There are also several re-releases that you could consider. In 1998 there was a Japan only release of the Genesis version along with a remake as part of Namco Anthology 2. The Genesis version was also available as an unlockable bonus in Namco Museum for the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube in 2001. The remake that was released in Namco Anthology 2 also showed up as an unlockable bonus in Pac =-Man World 2 for the GameCube, PS2, Xbox, GBA, and Windows in 2002. The Genesis version was once again re-released as Pac-Man Museum collection released in 2014 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Most recently, the Super NES version was re-released as part of Pac-Man Museum + for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC which was released in 2022.

The screen shots and ad above are all for the Super NES version of the game.

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